Saturday, December 24, 2016

Over a month after the conclusion of the 2016 presidential election, politicians and unnamed sources quote in various media outlets continue to raise the spectre of Russian interference in the elections.

As TIME pointed out last week, this is a fear that goes back to the time of America's Founding Fathers, with Alexander Hamilton, for instance, concerned about, "the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils."

Yet, as Glenn Greenwald has pointed out throughout the controversy, there is not yet any substantive evidence that has been brought to public attention, proving or strongly evidencing Russian interference in the election:

"To begin with, this is a second-hand report so you have somebody whose identity is being shielded describing what the CIA supposedly concluded, laundering that through the Washington Post. These are assertions that are being made completely unaccompanied by any evidence whatsoever, let alone evidence that we can touch and rationally review.

There’s all kind of reasons to suspect the CIA statements, including the fact that they’re wrong all the time, they’re programmed in a lot of cases to disseminate disinformation and there’s lots of reasons to view them as political actors.”

But if it turns out to be true that Russia had interfered in the US election, it would be just one more good reason for the United States foreign policy establishment to reconsider its heavy-handed intervention in overseas affairs, because it would be an example of what the CIA calls "blowback."

The United States has a storied record of interference in foreign elections, and while that does not justify foreign intervention in our elections, it does legitimize it as a geopolitical tactic, endangering the integrity of our own democratic process.

Friday, December 2, 2016

President-designate Donald Trump named his Secretary of Health and Human Services this week, picking Rep. Tom Price, a conservative Republican congressman from Georgia and a former practicing orthopedic surgeon of twenty years.

"Chairman Price, a renowned physician, has earned a reputation for being a tireless problem solver and the go-to expert on healthcare policy, making him the ideal choice to serve in this capacity," Trump said in making the announcement official early Tuesday.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

One of this week's main news stories is the proliferation of fake news websites and their potential effect on US elections.

One purveyor of fake news drew heavy fire for boasting, "I think Trump is in the White House because of me."

Meanwhile Google and Facebook announced they would be banning fake news websites from their advertising networks, citing the immense popularity of fake news with partisans on social media the election cycle.

So it's important now for the independent, critically-minded reader and sharer of news to note and reflect on the amount of fake news stories propagated by mainstream media sources, sometimes unknowingly through unacceptable carelessness and lack of proper journalistic rigor, other times knowingly and deliberately to influence elections or support a policy agenda.

Remember that after this election, even the New York Times, America's "newspaper of record," has had to apologize and "rededicate" itself to honesty, fairness, and scrutiny.

This kind of fake news is arguably more egregious than the kind we've been hearing about this week because it abuses the trust people have in an ostensibly reputable media source. The following list of 25 fake news stories from the mainstream media shows just how difficult it is to tackle the problem of fake news.

Banning click-bait upstarts will only scratch the surface of a much deeper problem, the systemic duplicity of a corporate mass media that serves entrenched interests and is every bit as interested in monetizing page views as the lone wolf peddler of bogus news.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

In a watershed electoral victory for drug policy liberalization in the United States, an astounding eight states voted to legalize marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes Tuesday.

That’s an especially resounding win for marijuana legalization considering that nine states had marijuana on the ballot, putting marijuana reform at an 88% success rate on election day.

In four states—Florida, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Montana—voters passed medical marijuana initiatives, and voters in four others—Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, and California—passed initiatives to legalize marijuana for recreational use by adults 21 and older.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

In a presidential election with record-setting unfavorable ratings for both major parties’ nominees, no small number of people will be voting against a candidate instead of for the candidate whose name they check on the ballot.

Many are calling this election the ultimate choice between “the lesser of two evils.” In fact, that very phrase was repeated over and over again when CNN went on a tour through two major swing states, Ohio and Florida, to talk to voters about their concerns and motivations this election.

But for “the lesser of two evils” argument to even make any sense for supporting one candidate over another, there has to be some substantive difference between the two candidates. The following, well-sourced list shows that on major, substantive issues of public policy there is no such difference between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. In fact, Hillary Clinton is just like Donald Trump.

For those of you weary of how the mainstream media has covered this campaign, please note with relish just how much you’re about to find yourself reading about actual policy for a change. And please say a big thanks to the Independent Voter Network for being willing to go there.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

“The broader question if Sarah Palin becomes vice president, will she be shortchanging her kids or will she be shortchanging the country?” -NBC correspondent Amy Robach

"Like this right-wing slut, what’s her name, Laura Ingraham? Yeah, she’s a talk slut. You see, she was, back in the day, praising President Reagan when he was drinking a beer overseas. But now that Obama’s doing it, they’re working him over." -MSNBC’s Ed Schultz

”It's pretty clear that Nikki Haley is being chosen because the Republican Party has a diversity problem.” -DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz

"I want her laying next to me in bed. That's the way people vote." -CNBC’s Donny Deutsch about Sarah Palin

"On so many levels S.E. Cupp is a perfect demonstration of the necessity of the work Planned Parenthood does." -MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann

"I’m all for masturbating to Christine O’Donnell… but why limit it to one day? I hereby declare every day between now and November 2 — when O’Donnell’s nomination costs the GOP a Senate seat — to be Masturbate to Christine O’Donnell Day. Rub one out for freedom, people!" -internationally syndicated columnist, Dan Savage

“One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game— during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.” -David Letterman about Sarah Palin's 14 year-old daughter

This book will astound you with how prominent Democrats in politics and political news media talk about and treat women.

Some of the stories about how prominent Democrats have hurt women will disturb and outrage you if you have any humanity.

And if you haven't heard this story yet, your heart will break when you read about Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton's first criminal defense case that left a young girl telling interviewers many years later:

"Hillary Clinton dragged me through hell."

This is not a partisan book.

It is the other half of the bipartisan effort to blow the whistle on sexism in the dirty business of electoral politics.

Monday, June 20, 2016

I remember activists back then telling me how this video was so good it gave them chills and made them wonder who this congressman was that they had never heard of.

I remember seeing those signs that said, "Who is Ron Paul?" like it was yesterday, and the obvious reference to Ayn Rand's classic novel, Atlas Shrugged. Share if Ron Paul ever played an important role in your political awareness...